


Repentance

by Naxa1818



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel: Contest of Champions - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Civil Warrior, Dimension Travel, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Happy Ending, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multiverse, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Angst, Steve Rogers Feels, The Civil Warrior - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 08:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12165234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naxa1818/pseuds/Naxa1818
Summary: After a strange energy reading appears in New York, Tony encounters The Civil Warrior, a Steve Rogers from another universe who's filled with regret. The Civil Warrior's greatest enemy from his universe--Victor Von Doom--won't stop until Tony's dead, but the Civil Warrior vows to keep Tony safe no matter what the cost.





	Repentance

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, after starting this with just mild brainstorming almost a year ago I finally have chapter 1 out. I've always been in love with this idea which is why I never let it die. I've worked on it here and there over the last 11 months and I'm so happy to actually have the first part completed. I promise it won't take nearly that long for chapter 2. 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I do. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

The Civil Warrior

Bio

* * *

 

 

**Tony Stark from Earth-12041**

 

“You’re walking a little funny, Steve. Next time you should establish a safe word,” Tony joked as he watched Steve on the camera feed. Steve stopped in his tracks, and looked up at the camera. His cheeks blushed a bright red that Tony always loved to see.

“Um. What?” Steve asked, as Clint groaned in the background.

It was supposed to be a short, simple mission. Tony had stayed behind because he hadn’t thought they would need his help, which in the end, they hadn’t. It still put him on edge when AIM attacked. After they thought they had beaten all of them, one stepped out from behind a pillar with a giant energy gun, and shot Steve in the back. Steve flew and crashed into a pile of crates. Sam took care of the last AIM agent while Tony gripped the wrench in his hand so hard it left an imprint on his palm. Once he realized Steve was okay, he relaxed a little. Except Steve was slightly limping, walking a little funny from landing in an awkward way when he crashed into the wooden boxes. So Tony did what he did best: joke but also shamelessly flirt with Steve to ease his own worry.

“Just saying,” Tony grinned. “Safety is important.”

“Right.” Steve fidgeted back and forth on his feet.

His face blushed an even deeper red. Tony thought it was delicious. He was afraid for a moment he made Steve uncomfortable, but when he saw Steve shaking his head trying to hold back a laugh he knew that he hadn’t. They’d been dating almost a month and Tony could easily admit that it was the best month he’d ever had. They were taking things slow, which he was fine with, but teasing Steve was one of his favorite pass times.

“Get a room,” Hawkeye mumbled.

Steve coughed. “Seems like everything is taken cared of here. Now we’re just waiting for SHIELD to arrive to take the AIM agents into custody.”

“Good job, guys. Wish I could have been there,” Tony said.

“Next time you’re coming, Iron Man.” Steve pointed at the camera trying to be stern, but a smile curved on his lips, which Tony knew was his way of being playful.

“I promise. I will.” Tony fiddled with the wrench in his hands, grinning at Steve through the feed.

“SHEILD’s here so we’ll be back soon.”

“Alright. I’ll be here. Burgers later?” Being with Steve was almost the same as when they were just friends. They would spend time together every chance they got whether it was to watch a movie, go out to eat, work out, or just about any other activity. The added bonus was kissing Steve, which Tony absolutely loved to do.

“Burgers for just you two or all of us?” Sam appeared behind Steve.

Tony grumbled as he saw that mischievous glint in Sam’s eye. Even though they’d been dating a month the team still liked to tease Tony about their relationship. Mainly because the way they got together was because there had been a funny misunderstanding that ended up with him and Steve eventually revealing their feelings to one another.

“It’s Tuesday. Tony and I always do something on Tuesdays,” Steve interjected. Tony huffed out a breath at Steve’s save. Sure, they did something every Tuesday, but they also hung out pretty much every day of the week.

“Oh,” Sam whined, but grinned at Tony and winked from behind Steve.

“We’ll see you when we get home, Tony,” Steve smiled.

“See you then, Steve,” Tony replied softly, and turned off the feed.

Tony fell back in his chair and sighed happily. He was smiling, which he always seemed to be doing even more than normal for the last month. Not that he was complaining.

“Sir, there seems to be a powerful unknown energy nearby in an abandoned building,” Friday announced.

“Really?” Tony looked up at the holograms. Friday pulled up photos of a five-story, abandoned building. A red dot appeared representing the energy reading. The bigger the dot grew the stronger the energy became. The dot was growing quickly. “Shit, okay. Friday, tell Thor and Hulk to meet me there.”

“Sir, Thor and Hulk are in Asgard for their warrior match, remember?”

“Oh, right,” Tony grimaced. “Fine, I’ll just go myself. Send the information to the HUD.”

“Of course, sir.”

Tony suited up and a moment later was flying towards the building. The energy reading was increasing rapidly, but the source of it was a mystery. The building wasn’t far away so Tony arrived quickly. Once he landed on the roof the reading completely disappeared.

“That’s weird. Friday, what happened?” Tony opened the door on the roof that led into the building and went inside.

“I don’t know, Boss. The reading was clear just a moment ago and now it appears to have vanished.”

Tony grunted. “I better not have come out here for nothing.”

“Because it was so hard to get here in the first place,” Friday spoke, flatly.

“Why do all my AI’s have so much sass?” Tony asked.

“You did make us, Boss.”

“Fair point. I better check this place out anyway since I’m here.”

Tony made it to the third floor, which was where the energy reading had come from. There was no trace of any kind of disturbance. No sign of a person, animal, or anything anywhere. The only thing in the room was a bucket and a mop that sat in the corner.

“Friday, keep an eye out for any kind of energy readings like this in the city the next few days. I’m not sure what it was but if it shows up again, I’d like to know.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Let’s get out of here, then.”

Tony made his way back to the roof, took flight, and hovered over the building for a moment. He wasn’t entirely convinced that whatever had been there was gone.

“Ah, Tony Stark!”

As if right on cue.

Tony looked down in the street and of all people he was hardly expecting Doom to be the cause of the strange energy. He landed gracefully not far from where Doom stood. Tony glanced around the area, happy to know that there weren’t any civilians around at the moment.

After focusing his attention on Doom, he realized how different the man was. Doom was much bigger than normal, taller and bulkier. His armor was a dark navy that contrasted well with his blood red cloak. The mask was black, which brought out Doom’s left eye, milky-colored. He was blind in that eye, Tony realized. He knew the Avengers hadn’t seen him in a while, but he’d never seen such a drastic change in someone in such a short amount of time.

“Nice outfit change, Doom. Is this apart of your Dark Arc?”

Doom laughed, low and husky. He had definitely been working on his scary evil villain laugh.

“Seems luck is on my side. To have only just arrived and to already have found you, Stark.”

“Right, well, you’re creeping me out so let’s fight, I’ll win and then leave and never think of this encounter ever again.” Tony lifted his hand, repulsor ready.

Doom chuckled seeming to enjoy the circumstances far more than Tony was. “I’m not sure how powerful the Doom here is but I can guarantee you are about to be surprised by underestimating me,” he replied.

 _The Doom here?_ Tony repeated the words in his head. What the hell was Doom talking about?

“Alright, I’m confused enough already. Let’s get this over with.” Tony fired his repulsor. Doom lifted his hand, the blast exploded, and it did nothing to Doom or his armor. “Huh, so you’ve upgraded a few things. No biggie, I didn’t fire at you with full power anyway.”

Doom shot a small, silver disk at Tony. It hit the armor, electrocuting and shutting down the suit.

“What?” He couldn’t move. The armor was locked up. He couldn’t hear or see anything. “Shit. Friday?” Moments passed in complete darkness. The only thing he could hear was his own frantic breathing. What was going on out there? When did Doom get such technology to completely down his suit so easily? “Fuck.”

A few seconds later the faceplate was gone. Doom stood a few inches from Tony with the crushed metal in his hand. He laughed and tossed it aside.

“I told you not to underestimate me. Now you can’t do anything.”

“How?” Tony asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know? Too bad you won’t be around much longer to find out. Once I’m done with you, I’ll be taking all of your tech.” Doom took a few steps back and raised his hand.

Too shocked to say anything, Tony realized that Doom was wearing a gauntlet much like the one Tony had. Besides the color, it was an exact replica.

The repulsor charged. “I have an old model,” Doom said. “But once you’re out of the picture, I’ll be as strong as ever. Say goodbye Tony Stark.”

The repulsor hissed, ready to fire, and Tony thought this was it. He was going to die and there was so much he wanted to do. So much he wanted to say to Steve. If only he had told Steve how much he loved him. They’d been only dating a month, but he loved Steve for years. He should have told him because there was so much for Tony to say.

 _Fucking damnit!_ Tony thought, angrily.

As the repulsor came to life, Tony opened his eyes to face whatever was to come next. Any second he was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it.

Then something hit Doom  _hard_. He flew backwards and landed on the ground with a loud  _thud._ It had happened so fast. A blur of red, white, and blue and then Doom was down.

“How the hell did you follow me here?” Doom yelled as he slowly got back up on his feet.

Tony looked in the direction Doom was—to his right—and he almost thought he was dreaming. Cap— _Steve?—_ stood not far from Tony, right in front of the abandoned building where the energy reading had come from. But something wasn’t right. His uniform was armor. His helmet was sleek, blue and silver with an A on the top and the eyes glowed a light blue. The body armor was mostly blue with silver and red gauntlets and boots. A star was in the middle of the uniform, just like Steve’s, except it glowed just like Tony’s arc reactor. Finally, Tony looked at what was in his hands and he thought for sure all of this couldn’t be real. It was Steve’s shield; worn down with scratches on it, but the middle where the white star used to be  _was_ Tony’s arc reactor. There was no denying it because that’s exactly what it was. Tony had tried so many times to get Steve to wear armor and he had always refused. So, who was this?

For once in his life Tony was speechless.

“Wasn’t hard considering I knew exactly what you were up to.”

Tony’s heart raced because even though the voice of this armored warrior had a metallic sound to it, it definitely sounded like Steve. He would know Steve’s voice a mile away.

“Steve?” Tony asked.

The armored man snapped his head in Tony's direction and for a moment it seemed like time stopped while this mystery Captain America stared at him.

“Came to save his life since you couldn’t in our world?” Doom snapped.

The man looked away from Tony and back at Doom. He walked into the street to stand in front of Tony, protecting him, shield up and ready. “I will  _not_  let you touch him.” The man snarled, anger dripping from his voice.

Without another word, Doom ran toward the armored man. Doom was fast and as he drew close the man lifted the shield, and the center glowed brightly before a powerful energy beam hit Doom sending him so far down the street he was out of sight. There was a crash and a moment later smoke, which Tony could only assume was hopefully Doom coming to his end.

The man turned around. Tony swallowed, suddenly unsure as to what he should make of this stranger.

“You need to leave. Go back to the tower where you’re safe.” The man casually walked up to Tony. He took something out of his utility belt and stuck it in Tony’s suit that sent a jolt of electricity through the suit bringing it back online.

“Friday?” Tony asked.

“Here, Sir.”

Tony breathed out. “Thank goodness.”

Tony watched as the man put whatever he had used back in his belt. Whoever this was knew things. Like precisely where a small input was on the side of his suit for things like what just happened a moment ago. Only Steve knew about that input, and now this stranger apparently.

“How did you—”

“There’s no time for questions,” the man interrupted. “Call Shield. Doom needs to be put away. And you need to go back to the tower.”

“One. You have no right to boss me around!” Tony yelled. This stranger may have saved him, but Tony wasn’t going to let him get away with telling him what to do. Except, yeah, Doom needed to be contained. “Friday, contact Shield to get Doom.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“And two. I’m not going to the tower until Doom is picked up, and you tell me what’s going on or who the hell you are.”

“You don’t need to know who I am,” was the man’s answer.

Tony snorted. “You somehow have a vibranium shield with my arc reactor in it and you know things that only someone close to me would know.”

“Tony.” The man reached out as if to touch Tony, but he froze and quickly retracted his hand. He shook his head and turned away. “It’s best you don’t know who I am.” He said quietly.

“Right. You helped me out. Thanks, but that’s not going to cut it.” Tony crossed his arms.

The man sighed. “You never change, huh?”

Before Tony could reply the man ran off in the direction where Doom presumably was. Tony followed closely, flying right above him. People huddled around the damage. A small flower shop was the victim. The front of the building was destroyed, rubble completely blocking anyone from getting in to the front entrance.

Tony landed next to two women that waited outside the building. They both wore apron's that had the name "Gainsborough Flowers" on it. They looked alike, one far older than the other. 

“Did you see what happened here?” he asked.

The younger woman answered. “A man crashed into our store! We were able to get out from the back way. But he ran off.”

The armored man lifted his hand, the repulsor fired, and exploded, creating an opening to the front of the store. He ran in without question.

“Wait!” Tony called and went inside after him.

There was total disarray in the store. There was glass everywhere, flowers and tables destroyed, but most importantly, no sign of Doom.

“Iron man. You need to get back to the tower. He’s after  _you._ ” The man emphasized, sounding frantic. “He will not stop until you’re dead. Trust me.”

“How can I trust you?” Tony said and saw the man look away. “I don’t even know who you are.” Tony noted that the hand that wasn’t holding the shield was clenched up in a fist.

“Yeah,” he replied, simply. He turned back to face Tony and a moment later his helmet retracted into the suit.

Tony was once again speechless as he stared at Steve Rogers. This was not  _his_  Steve and although he almost looked exactly like his Steve, there were major differences. This man was much older, and although the serum let him age slowly, there were still lines around his eyes. He had a beard, which Tony could hardly believe, and his hair slightly longer and unkempt as though he didn’t care what it looked like. He looked worn down, like a man that had seen too much war, too much fighting. Tony’s heart clenched as he looked into this mans eyes. Whereas when he looked into his Steve’s eyes they were filled with such joy, but this man there was only sadness and anger. The way he looked at Tony, there was something else there that he couldn’t identify.

“Steve?” Tony finally spoke.

“Yeah. From another universe,” he replied.

He stared at Tony with such intensity that it made Tony’s stomach twist.

“And the Doom is from your universe as well, then.”

This other Steve—Rogers—was what Tony was going to call him, nodded and it all made sense now. Tony knew about the multiverse, but this was the first time he’d ever encountered an actual counterpart of someone he knew.

“He could be anywhere. You need to get out of here.”

“Listen, Rogers. If Doom is that dangerous then we need to take care of him together sooner rather than later,” Tony argued.

“No, you need to leave and I’ll take care of him—”

“That isn’t going to happen. I’m an Avenger and I won’t—”

“God damnit, Tony. He’s going to kill you!” Rogers yelled.

Tony had to admit he’s never seen his Steve get this angry before. Not even when the team had split up. Rogers had both fists clenched up, his face was red, and his eyes emanated pure anger. In that moment, Tony noted that he hoped he would never see his Steve like this.

“This Doom is from my universe. I know what he’s capable of,” he went on and pointed a finger at Tony. “He came here specifically to kill you. I came here to stop him. If there’s once thing you should do here it’s fucking listen to me!”

 _Language!_ Tony thought, and he almost wanted to laugh because that’s what his Steve would say.

Rogers must have realized how aggressive he was being. His anger vanished, his eyes wide with regret. He closed them tightly and looked away.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “But I know what I’m talking about.”

One thing for sure was Tony did not expect the day to go like this.

“Well, if I’m going back to the tower then so are you.”

Rogers looked back at Tony. “Why? I can handle this on my own.”

“Doom’s disappeared and until we know where he is I think it’s best for you to stay safe too. Besides, if something were to happen and you weren’t around, don’t you think it would be best if you filled me in on the details of the Doom from your universe?”

Rogers studied him. Tony could tell he was calculating on what he should do. And even though this wasn’t his Steve, Tony still had the urge to protect him with everything that he had.

“I guess that makes sense,” Rogers responded.

“Good. Let’s get back to the tower before Doom comes back and then we’ll have the upper hand.” Tony made his way out of the flower shop and back on to the street. “Friday, tell Shield that Doom is missing but we need some clean up down here.”

“Right on it, Boss.”

Tony turned around to see that Rogers was right behind him with his helmet back on.

“Ready?” Tony held out his hand. “I’ll fly you to the tower.”

“I don’t need your help.” Was the only warning Tony got before Rogers was in the air, flying towards the tower.

Tony quickly followed trying to catch up, but it seemed Rogers’ grade of tech was better than Tony’s. He was fascinated and a bit jealous. Maybe Rogers would let him look at the tech while they figured out where to find Doom.

As Tony came up to the tower, Rogers was already on the landing pad.

“The coordinates are almost the same in my universe,” Rogers commented, before Tony could ask.

“Does it look the same?” Tony questioned.

“It used to look similar, but not as much anymore,” Rogers said, and then turned and made his way inside.

Tony wanted to ask more. He knew there was something there, something different about Rogers’ universe, but he wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea to bring it up.

Rogers waited for Tony once they got inside. Tony immediately headed toward the workshop and Rogers followed in silence. He turned his head slightly every so often to look at Rogers, but he never noticed because he was too invested in looking around at everything in the tower.

Inside the workshop, Tony stepped onto the landing pad in the room and disassembled his armor. He watched Rogers closely. It wasn’t that he thought Rogers was going to do something bad, but this Steve Rogers was so much more different than Tony’s that it was hard to comprehend. It made him sad to see a Steve from another universe like this. Just thinking about his Steve being like that broke his heart.

Rogers walked over to Tony’s main workshop table and picked up a wrench that had Tony’s initials carved in it. He examined it as he moved it around in his hands. Tony wondered what he was thinking. Steve had given him a tool set for his birthday last year all with his initials carved in it by Steve himself. Tony loved the gift and sometimes Steve took the wrench on solo missions because Tony told him it was good luck.

Finally, Rogers spoke. “The Steve here give this to you?” he asked, and Tony was a little surprised he guessed so quickly, but then again this was a Steve Rogers from another universe.

“Yeah,” Tony replied and made his way over to the table. “He gave it to me for my birthday last year.”

“Oh,” Rogers quietly mumbled. “That’s...good.”

Tony could feel a sudden shift in the way Rogers was behaving. Before they were at the tower he was coming across somewhat aggressive and now he seemed so melancholy. It was quiet after that and Rogers continued to stare at the wrench. Tony hated the silence. “He gave me a whole set with my initials carved into each tool.” Tony commented and finally Rogers looked up. Tony gently took the wrench from him and looked down at it fondly. “Sometimes I make him take this wrench with him on missions when I’m not there to watch his back.” Tony shook his head and chuckled. “It’s dumb but I told him it was for good luck. Funny enough, it’s seen some hard times with Steve but has always made it back.”

When Tony looked back up Rogers was looking at the ground. His fists were clenched up on the table, he looked tense and rigid as if he was trying to control himself.

“Did…” Tony swallowed. “Did you and your Tony have anything funny like that?” Maybe he shouldn’t ask, maybe he’d said something wrong, but Tony couldn’t help it.

Rogers stood up straight and slightly backed away from Tony. “No,” he said low, and somewhat hoarse. “And he’s not my Tony.” He moved past Tony then, and Tony was left standing there with his mouth hanging slightly open in shock.

“Okay, well, that….sucks.” Tony grimaced and set the wrench back on the table. “Look you don’t have to be rude about it.”

Rogers was facing away from Tony and without turning he replied. “Let’s just get on with finding Doom.”

Tony sighed. “What a great way to avoid a conversation,” he grumbled.

“Sir,” Friday said at just the right moment. “Captain Rogers and the other Avengers are back at the Tower. They are on the way to the workshop.”

That seemed to get Rogers attention. He turned back around and looked between Tony and the door.

“Oh good.” Tony let out a breath of relief. He was so happy Steve was back.

And sure enough only a minute later Steve rushed through the door. He glanced at Rogers for a brief moment but then seemed to completely forget about him as he rushed over to Tony.

“Hey,” Steve said gently and held Tony’s face with both hands. “Friday told us what happened with Doom. Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Tony replied quickly. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Tony could feel Rogers gaze on them. He could see him in the corner of his eye, but he tried to ignore it. He was just happy at the way his Steve was looking at him: with joy.

Steve leaned down to brush a kiss against Tony’s lips. Tony happily returned the gesture. One of his favorite things was to kiss Steve. It was chaste and sweet and almost perfect until the sound of something hitting the floor snapped them out of their moment.

They pulled apart and looked over to where the sound came from. Rogers was backed up against a table looking down at a gauntlet Tony had been working on earlier. Rogers then quickly picked up the gauntlet and set it on the table. He took one last glance at Tony and Steve before looking away.

What had happened, Tony wondered. Was he upset at him and Steve kissing? Was he shocked or something else?

“What’d we miss?” Clint said as the workshop door opened. Clint and Sam walked in and looked from Steve to Rogers. “Uh, apparently a lot.”

Steve slightly turned to face in Rogers’ direction, but kept his arm around Tony’s waist and squeezed. Tony wasn’t about to lose contact either so he kept his hand pressed against Steve’s back.

“Friday also mentioned the multiverse.” Steve got right to the point. Tony watched him for a moment and noticed his fixed gaze on his counterpart.

“He saved me,” Tony said. “If it wasn’t for him then I would probably be dead.”

The arm around Tony’s waist tightened. “Well, thank you is in order then.”

Rogers finally turned around which got a “whoa” out of both Clint and Sam. “No thanks are in order. We should just focus on finding Doom and ending him. Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Is this really Cap from another universe?” Clint chimed in. “Cause he sounds really broody for a Steve.”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed. “Are you really Steve Rogers? Or someone else? Honestly, this is all fascinating to me.”

“It doesn’t matter who I am or where I come from.” Rogers still had the helmet on and it didn’t seem like he wanted to take it off anytime soon.

“Right,” Clint said. “So you’re just mega broody.”

Rogers took a few steps forward, which seemed to put everyone else on edge. “You think I’m here to hurt you? Well, I’m not. I saved Tony and I can guarantee that Doom will be back to kill him.”

“He’s right,” Steve said, serious. “We need to focus on finding Doom and protecting Tony.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Clint interjected.

“But I want to know more about this guy…” Sam whispered in objection.

Steve looked from Sam to Clint and back to Rogers. He slipped out of Tony’s grip and walked up his counterpart. Tony couldn’t help but stare in awe as he looked at Steve and Rogers standing just a few feet from each other. Both were tall, muscular and very intimidating. Rogers was slightly taller and bulkier because of the armor, but Steve showed no fear of him because of it.

“And knowing more about you, who you are and your intentions is something we need to know to protect Tony.” Steve crossed his arms and kept his eyes on Rogers even though the helmet was still up. “You saved Tony and I appreciate it, but there’s also something off about you. If you want to stay here and protect Tony like you claim you need to tell us more about you. Otherwise, I don’t trust you.”

“Steve,” Tony breathed out his name, shocked. “He saved me remember?”

“And I appreciate that,” Steve said again, not looking away from Rogers. “But I’d feel more comfortable if he just explained more about himself and Doom. I’m not asking for much. Surely you can understand.”

The room was silent. Tony wanted to try and stick up for this other Steve Rogers, but his Steve had a point. What if this was a skrull from another universe? What if he was being mind controlled? It was hard for Tony to imagine a real Steve wanting to hurt him, but he really didn’t who this person was.

“You don’t want to know anything about me,” was Rogers reply, which only made Steve grimace.

“That only makes me more suspicious, not less,” Steve said.

“If I really wanted to kill Tony I could have done it countless times since I saved him from Doom.” Rogers took a step forward, his metallic voice becoming more irritable, but Steve never wavered.

“I don’t care. You help us and we help you. That’s how the Avengers work.”

“I’m not an Avenger so it doesn’t count for me.”

That seemed to shock the whole room. Clint and Sam simultaneously echoed “wow” and Tony just couldn’t imagine that. A Steve Rogers from another dimension that wasn’t an Avenger. Tony could see even Steve’s demeanor falter for just a second before he regained himself.

“But we are,” Steve spoke. “And you are in our tower and all we’re asking is some corporation.”

“Please,” Tony tried. “We don’t need your life story just some information. That’s all.”

Rogers looked at Tony, lingered on him a moment longer and then he looked back at Steve. “Fine.”

The helmet retracted into the suit, which seemed to shock everyone in the room even more.

“Holy…” Clint trailed off.

“Wow, this is such a crazy day,” Sam said.

Tony watched Steve. His eye’s widened in shock, his arms fell to his sides and he took a few steps away from his counterpart. What that must be like Tony might never know. Not only was Steve looking at himself from another universe, but this version was nothing like Steve was probably imagining.

Rogers looked angry. He obviously wasn’t happy with the current events, but Tony could tell he was trying to calm himself down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and when he finally opened them again Tony could tell he felt better.

“Thank you,” Steve said.

“If you think this will help then so be it,” Rogers replied bitterly.

Steve walked back over to stand next to Tony. Tony didn’t hesitate to lean against him. Now that the helmet was down Rogers gaze was just as intense as Tony imagined it would be, but he couldn’t tell what Rogers was really feeling as he looked at them.

“My name is Steve Rogers from Earth-TRN-517. I’ve been tracking the Doom from my universe close to six months. He was trying to steal Stark Tech and failed. I lost his trail for a while and then found out he was going to another universe to steal another Tony Stark’s tech. I followed him to stop him. That’s it.”

Rogers crossed his arms, uncomfortable and unhappy at telling everyone anything about him. Tony wanted to know so badly what had changed this Steve to be so aggressive and distant. Mostly, he wanted to know to make sure that never happened to his Steve.

“Why does he want my tech so badly? I mean, besides being better than any other tech in the world,” Tony said on purpose, nudging Steve in the side to get a smile out of him. It worked. Seeing Rogers was heartbreaking so he needed his Steve to smile.

Steve chuckled. “We all know you have the best tech, Tony. No need to tell us.”

“What does your Doom want more than anything?” Rogers asked, ignoring the teasing between him and Steve.

“To take over the world,” Sam replied.

“Yeah, it’s annoying,” Clint said as he examined one of his arrows.

“Then that’s something the Doom from my universe has in common with yours. He’s tried countless times. Once we had him locked up, we thought for good, but he escaped.” Rogers sighed, disappointment and regret written all over his face.

“Why are you the only person to come here?” Tony wanted to know why no one from Rogers’ universe was helping him. Where was his counterpart and why the hell wasn’t he with Rogers?

“Some people tried to help, but Doom is my responsibility so I’ll take care of him myself.”

“Surely there are others that want to help you.” Steve motioned to the people in the room. “You say you’re not an Avenger but were you one before?” The look in Rogers eyes as he stared at Steve was pure sadness. He nodded. “Then you must be friends with them. They can help. Tony would help you.”

The second his name left Steve’s mouth was the moment he could see Rogers wall start to break. It was barely there, but if there was one thing Tony knew it was Steve even if it was a Steve from another universe. But it was only for a second, and then Rogers rigid, cold barrier had returned.

“I won’t ask others to help me with this. I want to do this and I want to do it alone.” Rogers crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

“But,” Tony couldn’t help himself. “My counterpart would help you. I know he would. I know I can be a jerk especially when I was younger—”

“Tony…” Steve put his hand on Tony’s shoulder. Tony knew he was ready to object.

“—but if there is one thing I know for damn sure in any universe…..if there’s a Steve Rogers there’s a Tony Stark willing to help him, protect him….basically do anything for him. So I know he would do the same for you, Rogers.”

“He can’t help me,” Rogers snapped. “So let it go.”

“I’m with Tony,” Steve agreed. “The Tony in your universe would help you. Could you at least contact him? He obviously designed your suit so I’m sure there’s a way you can get ahold of him.”

“Exactly! Steve here won’t let me dress him up in armor,” Tony looked up and smiled at Steve. “So if you’re wearing the Stark armor Tony made for you and you’re willing to wear it then that must mean you two are close. So if you can just—”

“He can’t help me because he’s dead!” Rogers screamed, interrupting Tony before he could finish.

Everyone in the room jumped, startled by Rogers. Tony felt as though he had jumped out of his skin. He looked up at Steve, who was not only shocked, but incredibly sad. In fact, Tony had never seen Steve look so sad before. Then he glanced over at Rogers who was a whirl of emotions. His face was red, he was breathing heavily, his fists clenched at his side, he was angry, but the thing that stuck out the most was the fact that he looked like he was on the verge of tears. Water prickled his eyes, but the tears weren’t falling.

“He’s dead,” Rogers repeated. “He can’t help me anymore.”

Rogers turned around and placed his hands on the table for support. Tony could hear him taking deep breaths. Steve wrapped his arm around Tony’s waist and pulled him close. It was comforting. He was so glad Steve was next to him.

“I’m sorry…” Tony said after a few moments. “I shouldn’t have pushed.”

“I shouldn’t have either,” Steve agreed, sadly. “I can’t imagine that…I don’t want to imagine it.”

They stood silently as they waited for Rogers to regain himself. Eventually, he stood straight, turned around and was completely composed again. It was like he hadn’t been angry or sad at all just a few minutes ago.

 _He’s so cold now_ , Tony thought.  _How broken does one man have to be to be able to push all those emotions away in an instant?_

“If Tony was alive I know he would help me. Without thought or question. He would help me,” Rogers said. “But he can’t. So that’s it.”

“How….” Tony swallowed. He shouldn’t pry. Rogers just blew up on him a moment ago…but he had to know. “How did he go? I know I just said I shouldn’t have pushed but…”

Rogers sighed. He looked tired and worn down. “Do you really want to know?”

“Maybe if I knew I could avoid it in this universe.”

"By the looks of things you won't have to worry about it here. Which is good."

"Oh good," Tony replied, but was somewhat confused at the comment. "Well I'd still like to know. If that's okay, please don't freak out—"

“I won’t,” Roger insisted.

“Okay then, yes. I would like to know.” Tony looked at Steve then at Clint and Sam who were all looking a little shook from the new information. Hell, Tony was too, but he needed to know. Steve tried for an encouraging smile, nodded and squeezed Tony’s waist.

Tony looked at Rogers who was staring at the ground as if it had wronged him. He looked like he wanted to rip it apart with just a look. Then he looked up at Tony, his gaze intense, regretful, and sad.

“I killed him.”


End file.
